Tablo 4-Tuner Digital Video Recorder for HDTV Antennas with Wi-Fi: This next-generation DVR plugs in to your HDTV antenna so you can watch free, local broadcasts from any connected device in your home or anywhere you have Internet access. Record or stream up to 4 live or recorded HDTV programs simultaneously on multiple devices, including your iPad, Android tablet, laptop, and smartphone, or on your TV using Roku, Chromecast or Apple TV.

Services

Features

Digital HD antenna required

Designed for users who watch TV with an HD antenna instead of subscribing to cable. HD antenna sold separately.

Stream or record free HDTV on your iPad or Android tablet with the Tablo app

Or watch from your smartphone or computer using the Chrome browser.

Dual-band Wi-Fi

Enables the Tablo and HDTV antenna to be placed in the best location for over-the-air signal reception.

Get more entertainment with 4 tuners

Browse, record and stream up to 4 live or recorded HDTV shows simultaneously on multiple devices.

System requirements

An HDTV antenna; iPad running iOS 7 or later, Android tablet with a 7" or larger screen running Android 4.1 or later, or a computer/smartphone; an Internet connection; and a USB hard drive (max 2TB) are necessary for use.

Customer image gallery

Best reviews

Tablo Beats Tivo

Posted 1 year ago

digitalbrad

Elite Plus Member

The Tablo is a great DVR solution because it provides great picture quality even wirelessly to all the tvs, phones and tablets in your house. You'll need a connected box like an Apple TV 4, Firetv / Firetv Stick or Roku to use Tablo on a TV. The do support a few native apps on Google TV and LG tvs, but you'll enjoy better performance using a Roku or AppleTV. The app performance on the FireTV Stick and Chromecast is very slow, but functional.
I did not buy my Tablo from Best Buy. Best Buy didn't carry it in my local store . I am an Elite Plus member and I wanted to use this product for an extended period of time and offer an honest review. This product is not as user friendly as a Tivo, but they are making strides to get there.
I was a huge fan of Tivo. I used to have the first HD box with integrated Directv. It was awesome. Directv and Tivo have both lost their way in my opinion. Tivo's whole home solution is flawed because it really requires very expensive hardware in each addition room and to date, requires a hardwired connection. The extra boxes take up space and are over $100 each with a separate remote. The main Tivo boxes are large and have limited fixed storage. I purchased the OTA Tivo and an extra box and wasn't able to get the additional box to work with a power line ethernet adaptor, so I promptly returned them to BB.
With Tablo, I started with an external 1TB drive, and have migrated for the 3rd time up to a 4TB drive. This is officially unsupported, but totally possible. To me, I'd rather spend $35-$50 on a Roku Stick or a FireTV stick and use Tablo wirelessly in additional rooms with the free Tablo app (plus use of the additional apps). Going the Tivo route, you'd need to hardwire each room, pay over $100 for hardware, use a Tivo remote and have a box showing. So, if you have a tv that has a connected stick, you can use it in the living room to watch extra games during football season or parties. Its a no brainer.
The Tablo monthly service is $5.99 compared to the insane prices Tivo charges over $10 a month. I could justify paying over $10 a month to Tivo just for OTA guide data. They also offer a lifetime subscription as well. A lot of us Tablo users communicate / troubleshoot issues at the Tablo Community. Its a great place to ask questions and receive help when support is offline or closed. https://community.tablotv.com
I have been using Tablo for about 2 years now. It is far from perfect, but I believe it is a revolutionary product. They are still a relatively small company, but have built up a knowledgeable and friendly support staff and are growing quickly. They will normally try to help you do things that are unofficially unsupported like migrating your recordings to a larger drive. There are 3rd party apps that are awesome to use on other platforms and give you a lot of options with your recordings.
I hope this review helps people trying to decide. Its probably time for Best Buy to start pushing this product. I think its finally ready for primetime.

I would recommend this to a friend

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Larry

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

A great little product

Posted 2 years ago

Larry

The Tablo was what finally allowed me to cut the cord, and I couldn't be more pleased.
My DirecTV bill had ballooned to over $100/month, and I wasn't watching the vast majority of the channels. Worse, as a loyal customer of 19 years, they wanted to charge me extra for HDTV, something offered to new subscribers for free.
Initially, I put up an antenna to see what was available in my area. I was literally blown away... all the major networks were there in stunning HD quality, far outshining what was coming in on satellite. What's more, there are a lot of channels beyond the major networks (ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox/TheCW) that offer a wide variety of vintage movies and TV shows. Since most of what I watch on Satellite was broadcast over the air for free by the major networks, I decided that I could afford to miss the few shows available only on satellite (or cable).
The missing piece to the puzzle was the ability to record over the air broadcast television. I looked at Tivo, which had been around a long time. Their Roamio was a nice, inexpensive solution, but the $15/month fee for the program guide was a non starter. Channel Master has a nice product in their DVR+ which includes the program guide for free, but it only has 2 tuners, and only works for 1 TV.
Enter the Tablo... it doesn't connect directly to your TV, but streams programming over your home network from the Tablo itself to your laptops, tablets, phones, and to your big screen TV via Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku or Apple, and you can even watch live TV or recorded content when away from home. Video quality is stunning, with the major networks broadcasting in crystal clear HD.
Available in either the 2 or 4 tuner model (both require an external USB hard drive) I opted for the 4 tuner, TV junkie that I am. With the 4 tuner model, you could be recording 4 shows at one time, while watching a 5th show live via the TV's antenna input. There is a nominal charge for the program guide, but it's well worth it, and significantly less than what Tivo charges.
Recognizing that broadcast TV doesn't necessarily fill all your TV viewing needs, many people use OTT (Over the Top) streaming services as a supplement, subscribing to inexpensive streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime... the relatively new Sling TV offers a handful of cable channels for $20/month if you just can't do without AMC, ESPN, Food Network, IFC and many others. You can even get inexpensive streaming subscriptions to HBO or Showtime, without having to be a cable or satellite subscriber. With these and more streaming services available, you're never at a loss for something to watch.
The cost savings achieved by dropping satellite or cable can be huge, even if you subscribe to a few OTT streaming services, you're still saving a lot of money. There is an up front cost for the equipment, but with typical cable or satellite bills, you'll typically recover the cost in about 6 months.

I would recommend this to a friend

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DaveG

Verified Purchase

Elite Member

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

You have to spend money to save money

Posted 3 years ago

DaveG

Verified Purchase

Elite Member

I got tired of paying Comcast (prior to that it was DirecTV) gobs of money for a bunch of channels we didn't watch. By the time I added HD programming and DVR, my monthly bill for TV alone was $85+. $85/month just to watch TV???
I'd always dreamed of ditching cable in favor of over the air programming. The biggest limiting factor was a solid DVR solution as we rarely watching live TV. I'd messed with home theater PCs and they never passed the easy to operate test. There was always some quirk (outside of just dealing with Microsoft quirkiness) that kept me from using it as a home DVR.
And then along came Tablo...
Before I tell you about how great Tablo is, I did also look at Channel Master DVR+. I believe this is the only other option worth discussing - please take a look at that as well to see if it will meet your needs.
To be clear, there's no physical connection between the Tablo and your TV. Tablo will stream recordings or live TV "to" your AppleTV, ChromeCast or Roku. This was a concern of mine as it's much different from conventional thinking. What this offers is one less input used on your TV or receiver. This is also great if you use one of those streaming devices for playing music or videos on your TV as there's no need to switch inputs.
This is really becoming a disjointed review - please understand my excitement/ADHD...
What sold me on Tablo is the whole-home capabilities it offers. There's no need to run splitters or buy a separate DVR for another room, but it does require another ChromeCast or AppleTV.
Recently, the fine folks at just released phone apps (previously was limited to tablets) that allow using your phone to control your Tablo. For me, this was the best thing that's happened to Tablo as I didn't want to buy an iPad just for controlling TV. As I write this, I've been watching TV via the Tablo app to my main TV for about 2 hours and my iPhone battery life has gone down to 98%. That's much better than I expected.
Other things that make Tablo so great:
Bring your own hard drive. No need to limit your recordings - buy a drive that meets your needs.
Access your recordings and live TV while away from home.
The Tablo can be installed out of site as there's no direct connection to your TV.
Tablo is made in Canada.
Great community support @ http://community.tablotv.com/
My total investment (4-channel Tablo, Mohu Sky 60 and WG hard drive) is about $500. At $85 a month, I should start saving money in 6 months. Yes, there are shows I miss because the channels aren't available OTA (ESPN, HGTV, TNT, TBS), but it's a small price to pay.

I would recommend this to a friend

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Brian

Verified Purchase

Member

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

Fantastic OTA DVR

Posted 2 years ago

Brian

Verified Purchase

Member

Recently I was the target of yet another price increase from my cable company (Cox). In years gone by this was my cue to call them & haggle, but I'm fed up doing this & it only postpones the pain. Instead I decided to expend my energy looking at cutting the cable TV cord.
We are taking this transition very slowly, but I believe I am in a position to review the Tablo now.
Analyzing our TV watching showed that we watched mostly OTA TV, with only a few shows from regular cable (TNT, etc) & then several shows from premium cable (HBO, SHO). We opted for the 4 tuner as for an extra $70 it seemed worthwhile never having to choose between recordings.
antennaweb.org showed that all the locals we watched *should* be available at our location, but of course we couldn't be certain until we actually tried it. Fortunately - despite questionable terrain - using a ClearStream 4V in the attic the tablo got all the channels we wanted. And then some!
All told between tablo, antenna, USB drive (5TB) & lifetime guide subscription our tablo rig cost quite a bundle. It seemed VERY expensive until we do the math - even paying for some streaming services, I reckon we'll save around $100 a month. (We had a LOT of channels with the cable company, but IMO they deliberately slice things to encourage that.)
Anyway, the tablo is different from the cable company DVR. There are some minor annoyances (e.g. slow startup on streaming, so I tend not to flick-thru-channels on Tablo), but nothing that can't be avoided/worked around.
The guide is awesome. Much better than the cable company DVR guide that I'm used to. I really like the fact that I could add my own drive as we were forever running out of recording space on our (admittedly ancient) cable DVR,.
When we first got the Tablo there were some playback issues in Chrome, so I really liked being able to use a different mechanism to prove that it was Chrome misbehaving (used a VLC plugin). The Roku 4 is probably going to end up on my shopping list as the preferred playback mechanism ... as I mentioned we're taking the transition very slowly.
Oh, and the product seems to be improving all the time. I've applied a couple of updates at this stage. One of them removed the 2TB limit on disks, so it was after that that I purchased a new 5TB drive, previously having just used a smaller one I had at hand.
All told, a very satisfied user so far.

I would recommend this to a friend

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FTWJC

Verified Purchase

Elite Plus Member

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4

Good DVR for cord-cutters

Posted 2 years ago

FTWJC

Verified Purchase

Elite Plus Member

Recently got tired of paying an arm and a leg for a DVR from my cable company, when the majority of the shows I watched were from public stations such as NBC, CBS, etc. Looked at different options, saw different video reviews online to try and determine which DVR would be the best for what I wanted to use it for. My main issue with my old cable DVR was that I could only watch the recording from the one DVR, if I wanted the ability to view in more TV's I would have to pay more, it was also limited to a certain hard drive size, so was not able to record many shows before it was already full. I decided to try the Tablo after one review from YouTube, setup was a little tricky at first, even for a person that is pretty computer savvy, the easiest way, was to do it via my mobile device, once that was setup doing it via the computer was easier. Connected my hard drive, which I had to purchase separately, would have been nice to include with the DVR especially for the price of the 4 tuner device. Because the Tablo works via WiFi you need a device that is compatible to view the recordings or live TV, setting up and linking to the Tablo was super easy, but the app is a little slow when loading the Live TV information at first, once loaded, you can navigate easily, but when selecting a program to watch it buffer for some time, I experienced this mainly only on live TV, when viewing from a recording it was incredibly smooth, and loved the ability to forward through commercials. The best experience has been on my iPad and computer, meaning minimal loading screens, and great responsiveness. Also dont forget that you will have to pay for the ability to display the TV guide, Tablo gives you several options of payments, and also has a lifetime one. I did have some issues when moving the HDD while cleaning my house and the Tablo would say no HDD connected although it was still plugged in with the light blinking, had to unplug and plug back and most of the time it would work the first time, but some times I had to do this multiple times. Yet still, I would recommend this DVR to anyone that wants to cut the cord and yet still be able to record a lot of shows. It provides the ability to view on multiple TV's as long as you have a compatible device (such as a FireTV, Roku, Smart TV, etc).

I would recommend this to a friend

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Juan

Member

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

Tablo TV 4 Tuner Digital

Posted 2 years ago

Juan

Member

Order a few days ago the one has 4 recordings at the same time,…. And love it
It works almost out of the box.
It took around 15 minutes to download one day data of TV guide and later it took around one hour to download the other 14 days of TV guide. After one day download we were watching LIVE TV.
Easy setup
Instructions are easy:
1. Download the app from Apple or Google store and enroll for free
2. Connect hard rive
3. Connect TV antenna
4. Power it up.
The system recognized the HardDrive in a second and asked to Format – All was completed in seconds taking in consideration that it is a 1Tb hard drive.
2nd it download the updates
3rd It download 14 days of TV Guide [Free for a month]
… After that I was watching TV over the air in my 60 inch TV, 2 computers with Windows 10 Home and other with Premium, 1 Android tablet, One Windows 10 tablet , and in two android phones.
Live TV tales a few seconds to synch in all the Devices.
The quality is Great at 1080p but faster synch at 720p and anyways the human eye is not so perfect.
We already did a few recordings and IT IS GREAT.
I need to mention that I cut my cable sometime ago and all the programs that I watch are over the Air Local Channels.
If all continues like that I am planning to keep it and buy the Lifetime TV Guide for under $150.

I would recommend this to a friend

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GRag

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

2

Not ready for market

Posted 3 years ago

GRag

I am looking forward to finally "cutting the cord" and eliminate monthly fees from cable/satellite providers. The vast majority of the programming my family watches is either provided over the air via antenna or through Netflix streaming. I was excited to see that this product required minimal wiring and could be streamed to any tv in my house via my home's wireless network and a Roku device at each tv. I give the developers of the Tablo credit for making the device very easy to set up, which I was able to do in a matter of minutes. Where the device grossly falls short is its ability to identify all stations that my antenna is able to pick up. For example, I am able to find 35 stations in my area with my tv's internal tuner, but the Tablo was only able to pick up 4 stations, which is very disappointing. I tried connecting with and without an amplifier...didn't make a difference. The picture quality was ok on the 4 stations, but the playback was skippy and jerky, which was unbearable. I wound up returning the device due to its faults. Tablo has the right idea, but the bugs should have been worked out before this product hit the market.

No, I would not recommend this to a friend

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BigVTSquirrel

Member

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

5

It fixed 4 problems, when only seeking to solve 1.

Posted 2 months ago

BigVTSquirrel

Member

I cut the cord nearly 5 years ago.
The original problem to solve was that I wanted to add a HDTV to a room where extending the OTA antenna cable was not viable. An internet search suggested using my home's WIFI with a Tablo and Roku.
Upon further online research, I bought from Best Buy, as suggested, the 4-channel model, and used my existing ROKU box. It works like a charm, and when you add an external drive, it is an awesome DVR, plus when you subscribe to the program guide, you can watch live TV or DVR recordings from most smart phones and tablets. I have bought ROKUs for all my HDTV's, and now my home is it's own cable system using WIFI, without the monthly expense of subscribing to the cable or satellite company.
There is also an added benefit that my HDTVs are no longer directly connected by a copper coaxial cable to an outdoor antenna when lightening storms occur.
A couple of hints: The 4 channel Tablo is a very wise investment when recording overlapping programs, and if you are concerned about the Tablo unit being too warm, and laptop cooling mat is the solution.
The Tablo greatly enhances your OTA viewing experience.